Tomato and fruit sorter and distributer



TOMATO AND FRUIT SORTER AND DISTRIBUTER.

APPLICATION FILED AUG.8. I9I8.

T.J.PETEns. TOMATO AND FRUIT SORTER AND DISTRIBUT'ER.

APPLICATION FILED AUG-8, 1918.

1,340,079. y Patented May 11, 1920.

2 SHEETS-SHEET IIIIIIIIIIIIII WTNESSES fi fgsmw M4 A TTORNEYS lIQHOIDIAS JEFFERSON PETERS, OF PETERS, FLORIDA.

TOMATO AND FRUIT SORTER AND DISTRIBUTER.

specification of Letters Patent. Patented May 11, 1920.

Application led August 8, 1918. Serial No. 248,922.

To all whom t may concern:

Be it known that I, THOMAS J. PETERS, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of Peters, in the county of Dade and State of Florida, have invented a new and 1mproved Tomato and Fruit Sorter and Dlstributer, of which the following is a full, clear, and eXact description.

My invention has for its object to provide Ameans which will convey tomatoes and fruit without injury to-a sorter where they will be turned over as they are conveyed to a sizer, to assist in the removal of off-grade and ripe fruit; the sizer which is adjustable serving to separate the tomatoes and fruit according to size as they move to a vdistributer which directs the tomatoes` and fruit to the packers.

Anotherobject of vide means for holding wrapping papers, vconveniently mounted on the distributer.

Additional objects of the invention will appear in the following specification in which the preferred form of my invention is described.

In the drawings similar reference characters refer to similar parts in all the views, in which- Figure 1 is a plan View illustrating `my invention.

Fig. 2 is a longitudinal sectional View.

Fig. 3 is a transversev sectional view ofthe sorter or grading conveyer, and

Fig. 4 is a plan view of Fig. 3.

Fig. 5 shows the wrapper box support.

By referring to the drawings, it will be seen that the tomatoes and fruit are directed `by a drying belt 10 to an apron 11 which is constructed of soft material, so that it will not damage the tomatoes and fruit. This apron 11 leads the tomatoes and fruit to rollers 12 of a grading conveyer 13. -As v.a means to prevent the tomatoes and fruit from becoming bruised when they are fed from the apron to the conveyer, I provide a plurality of rubber or other flexible strips 14 which are secured to the apron 11 at 15, and which extend out over the adjacent portion of the grading conveyer 13, as best illustrated in Figs. 1 a'nd 2.

The construction of the grading con'veyer is best illustrated in Figs. 43 and 4 inthe drawings, from whiclf; it will be seen that it is constructed with a supports 17, 17a, 18 and 18u. The supports 17 and 17a are disposed above the supports the invention is to prorame lhaving roller Y 18 and 18, The support 17 is preferably spaced from the support 17a and the support 18 is preferably spaced from the support 18a. The rollers 12 are disposed on these supports 17, 17a, 18 and 18, and they are provided withv beads 19 which engage the outer edges of the roller supports 17, 17 u, 18 'and 18a to prevent the lateral displacement" of the rollers 12 4relatively to the frame 16.

The rollers 12 beyond the beads 19 are journaled in bearings in links 20, the rollers forming pintles, for the links and thereby connecting them together to form two sprocket chains 21, which 'are disposed around sprocket wheels 22 and 23, there b'eing two of th'e said sprocket wheels 22 spaced apart and secured to a shaft 24, and there being two of the sprocket wheels V2 3 which are spaced apart and ,which are secured to a shaft 25; the shafts 24 -and 25 -being journaled in bearings in the frame 16. It will be understood that when one of the shafts 24 or 25 isrotated, it will move therollers 12 from one set of sprocket wheels to the other set ofsprocketwheels by means ofthe links .207 and that as'the rollers 12 frictionally engage the roller supports 17 and 17a, the rollers will be rotated relatively yto the linksl20, as they aremoved forwardly over the roller supports 17 and 17a. This rotary movement of the rollers 12 will serve to turn the tomatoes and fruit which are conveyed by the said rollers, so that the graders who are stationed in the openings 26 in the distributer 27 may carefully examine all the tomatoes and other fruit withoutit being necessary 'for them to touch the good fruit.

It will be understood that when the rollers 12 travel rearwardly, they will be supported by the roller supports 18, 18, as is shown in Fig. 3 of the drawings. Secured tothe frame 1G, there is an apron 27 for receiving the tomatoes and fruit from the grading rollers 12, the sizer 28 being hingedtothe said apron 27 at 29. This sizer 28 has two transverse members 30 and 3 1 which are spaced' apart and which airecon: nected by the side members 32. A plurality 'of bars l8C-lare pivoted to the transverse member 30' at 34, so that theyvfmay be moved on their pivots as may be desired, to regulate the openings between the bars through which the smaller tomatoes will fall. The said bars 33 are preferably coated with rubber or i other soft material, so that the tomatoes and fruit will not be bruised in any way on contact with the said bars; these bars being held in position afteradjustment by -means of nuts 35 which mesh with screws 36 extending downwardly from the bars 33 through transverse slots 34 in the bar 31, the said nuts 35 being turned home against the bottom of the transverse bar 31 after the bars 33 have been adjusted.

As has been stated, this sizer 28 is hingedV at 29 to the apron '27, so that its lower end may be raised or may be lowered as may be desired. In order to support the sizer 28 in adjusted position, clamps 37 are provided which serve to hold the rods 38 to the frame in the openings 26 in the distributer, as has4 been stated. Thel tomatoes falling between the bars 43 of the sizer are directed laterally by chutes 45 to bins 46. The fruit reaching the bins 46 is of smaller diameter than the fruit which is directed to the chutes 47 which extend radially from the outer ends of the bars 33. These chutes 47 lead to the bins 48.

It will be'understood that the distributer from the grading conveyer 13 and' from the sizer 28 extends outwardly and downwardly,

so that the chutes 41, 42, 45. and 47 will be on'an incline leadingto the bins. It will also be understood that the incline of the said chutes may be adjusted and determined as conditions may require. y y

.Around the distributer 27, beyond the bins 43, 44, 46 and 48, there isa shel 49 on; which the boxes 50 may be disposed while, the t0- matoes or fruit are packed in the 'boxes from the bins. In many cases it is advisable` to wrap the tomatoes and fruit with papers before packing them in the 1-boxes 50. To assist in this, I provide wrapper containing boxes 51 which have ends 52 and one side 53. Each box 51'is pivoted to a base 54 from which depends a shank 55 which is normally disposed in a slot 56 which extends around.

y the outer sides of the bins, as best illustrated in Fig. 1 of the drawings. W'ith this arrangement, itis possible to dispose'thepaper containing box 51 at any desired point on the outer side of the distributer, and when so disposed the box 51 may be turned on its pivot so that the wrappers may be withdrawn therefrom through the open side 57 either from the right or from the left.

Having thus described my invention, I

Y of the frame.

claim as new and desire to secure by Let-A ters Patent: l

`1. In a fruit sorter and distributer, ro-

tating means for conveying. `and'turning4 wheel, a flexible member to direct fruit to the conveyer, and flexible strips secured to the means andextending over and engaging the conveyer.

4. In a fruit sorter and distributer, a drying belt, rotating means for conveying and turning over the fruit, an apron for receiving the fruit from the drying belt for directingit to the said means, and a plurality of flexible strips secured to the l apron and extending over and engagingthe said means.

5. In a fruit sorter and distributer, a rotating conveyer, means tov direct fruit to the conveyer, and a plurality of exible strips secured to the means and extending over and engagingv the conveyer.

6. In a fruit sorter and distributer, a conveyer, means tofdirect fruit tothe conveyer, and flexible strips secured to the means and extending over and engaging the conveyer. I 7

7. In a fruit sorter and distributer, a frame having sides `with two inclosed passages, one at each side of the Vframe and jprovided with longitudinally extending openings facing each other which are spaced above the 'bottom of the passages, roller sup- Y ports `extending inwardly from the sides of the frame at the bottom of` the openings, rollers for rolling along the roller supports` and provided with beadsv disposed in the passages .beyondzthe roller supports, and means for moving the rollers longitudinally 8. I n a fruit sorter and! distributer," a frame having Ysides with two inclosed passages, one at each side of the frame, and provided with 'longitudinallyextending openings facing eachl other ,spaced above the bottom of the passages, sprocket wheels at' the-ends of the passages, sprocket chains disposed around the sprocket wheels and extending through the passages, roller supports extending inul'ardly fronrthe sides of' thejframe at the bottom ,ofl theopenings, androllers for rolling along the roller supports and articulated to the sprocket chains.

9. In a fruit sorter and distributer,' a

-disposed around the 'sprocket wheels and extending through the passages, roller supports extending inwardly from the sides of the frame at the bottom ofthe openings, rollers for rolling along the roller supports 'and articulated to the sprocket chains, and

beads on the rollers disposed in the passages beyond the roller supports.

10. In a fruit sorter and distributer, two drums spaced apart, conveyer means dissed around the drum, rollers journaled 1n bearings in the conveyer means, means to rotate the rollers relatively to the conveyer means and to turn over fruit carried on the rollers, an apron leading to the rollers, a plurality of flexible strips secured side by side to'the apron andv disposed over and engaging the rollers, and a sizer for receiving the fruit carried by the rollers.

11. In a Vfruit sorter and distributer, a soft apron for receiving fruit and having a discharge end, a plurality of soft strips secured side by side to the apron at its discharge end, and means t0 receive the fruit from the discharge end of the apron with which the strips engage.

12. In a fruit sorter and dlstributer, a

sizer having bars between which fruit less than a predetermined size will fall, a distributer extending under the sizer, that portion of the distributer under the sizer extending therefrom laterally and, downwardly, the distributer in front of the sizer extending radially and downwardly, the distributer in the rear ofthe sizer extending laterally and downwardly and being separated from that portion of the distributer vwhich extends laterally from beneath the sizer by an opening in which an l operator may stand.

13. In a fruit sorter and distributer, rotating means for conveying and turning over fruit, an apron leading to the said means, a plurality of flexible strips secured to the apron extending. over and engaging the rotating means, an apron for receiving. ,the fru1t carrled by the said means, a sizer hinged to the last mentioned apron, and means for supporting the sizer in adjusted position relatively to the last mentioned apron. y

14. In a fruit sorter and distributer, a sizer having bars between which fruit less than a predetermined size will fall, a con- 'veyer leading to the sizer, a distributer eX- Y tending under the sizer, that portion underV the vdistributer extending therefrom latervallyI and downwardly, the distributer in front of the sizer extending radially and downwardly, the distributer extending from the conveyer laterally and being separated from that portion of the distributer which extends from beneath the sizer by an opening in which an operator may stand. 70 15. In a fruit-sorter and distributer, means for conveying and turning over fruit,

4a sizer beyond the said means for receiving fruit from the'said means, bins, and a distributer for directing the fruit, from the size'r to t'he bins. i

16. In a fruit sorter and distributer,` means for conveying and turning over fruit, a sizer beyond the said meansfor receiving fruit from the said means, and a distributer for directing the fruit from the sizer.

17. In a fruit sorter and distributer, a sizer having bars between which fruit less than a predetermined size will fall, a distributer extending under the sizer, that portion of the distributer under the sizer extending laterally and downwardly, the distributer in front of the sizer extending radially and downwardly, and a shelf around A the distributer for supporting boxes in 90 which fruit is to be packed.

18. In a fruit sorter and distributer, bins, a distributer extending outwardly and downwardly to the. bins, there bein an opening along the outer edge of the bins, a shank removably disposed in the opening, a box with two ends and a side mounted to rotate on a verticalaxis on-'the shank, and, a shelf on the outer side of 'the bins. n

19. In a fruit sorter and distributer, la 100 bin having a vertical opening through'one -of its sides, a shank disposed in the opening, a box with two sides and an end mount'- ed to rotate on 'a verticalaxis on the shank, and a shelf on the sidev of the bin.

20. Inl a fruit sorter and distributer, a sizer, a distributer which extends under the sizer, the distributer in the rear of the sizer extending laterally downwardly and forwardly to 'a portion ofthe'distributer ex- 110 tending from beneath the sizer and being separated from said portion of the distributer at the sizer by an opening in which an operator may stand.

21. In a fruit sorter and distributer, two i longitudinally extending roller supports spaced apart, links beyond the roller supports and rollers extending from one roller support to the other for rolling along the roller supports, the rollers forming pintles for the links.

THOMAS JEFFERSON PETERS. 

